2011 Pozo World Cup

July 11, 2011
created by Ed Sinclair

Event Summary: Philip Koster and Daida Ruano Moreno storm into first place at the 2011 Pozo World Cup earning an early advantage on the 2011 world tour.

The internationally recognised location of Pozo, Gran Canaria played host to the world’s finest wave sailors are they embarked on the opening event on the men and women’s wave tour. Pozo is famous for its howling winds and steep waves that allow the sailors to perform their most extreme and radical maneuvers known to windsurfing.

Pozo lived up to its reputation delivering winds blowing up to fifty knots over six days of intense competition, allowing the completion of the single and double elimination and the king and queen of Gran Canaria to be crowned.

Men’s Fleet- Single Elimination

Spread over four days of the competition the single elimination quickly saw many of the big names unleash their largest moves to wow the crowds and to guarantee their advances through their heats.

Gran Canaria’s wave wizard Philip Koster (Starboard / NeilPryde / Dakine) stole the show on the first day of competition, reaching astronomical heights with his stalled forwards and one footed backloops. He caught both the crowd and the judge’s attention with his incredible moves, confirming that he is one to watch out for on the 2011 world tour.

Venezuelan wild flyer, Ricardo Campello (JP / NeilPryde / MFC), Robby Swift (JP / NeilPryde), Thomas Traversa (Tabou / Gaastra) and Daniel Bruch (Starboard / Severne / Al360) all looked to be on great form after a winter’s hard training , each working their way through their heats landing super tweaked pushloops and amazing the crowds with their wave riding.

Marcilio Browne (Fanatic / North / MFC) stormed through the quarter finals, taking every opportunity to pull his super stylish backside 360’s and forward loops off the lip, ensuring he scored maximal point for his wave riding against his opponent Kauli Seadi (JP / NeilPryde), who was unable to match him.

The semi-finals burst in to action with Koster, Browne and Victor Fernandez Lopez (Fanatic / North / MFC) launching into double forwards straight after the green flag. Campello missed the opening ramp however he quickly made up for it with the largest stalled double forward loop in the competition, he wowed the crowds with his incredible performance, however his board paid the price and snapped on impact with the water. Campello made a swift return to the beach to swap his equipment. The action continued through the heat seeing Koster land an ankle try pushloop forward and work his way around some smooth wave 360’s to secure his place in the winner’s final. Fernandez Lopez had his work cut out against Browne; however he was able to pull the win out the bag with his precise wave riding and clean table top forwards.

Men’s Final

The crowds were blown away by the radical action that arose from the men’s winners final as last year’s duo took to Pozo’s waves to do battle once again. Koster exploded out the gates and launched into a gigantic double forward loop in front of the judges, followed by a perfect pushloop forward and a one footed backloop seeing him earn his jumping scores within the first thirty seconds of the heat. Fernandez Lopez chose to work his wave riding and went about his super clean backside 360’s and smooth cut backs. The following minutes were a rollercoaster ride of emotions for the crowd, hooked on the action as the heat unfolded. The sailors matched each other with a perfect pair of super stalled forwards and both went down on their following waves. Fernandez Lopez looked to be struggling to land his double forward’s providing super consistent Koster with the advantage and the single elimination win.

Women’s Fleet

First up was multi-talented Laure Treboux (Fanatic / North) versus new girl to the tour Sarah Bibby (Simmer) and on the other side of the heat Silvia Alba Orozco versus Karin Jaggi (Patrik / Severne). Treboux made the best out of the tough conditions and quickly collected her wave scores, whilst Bibby went hunting for aerials. Treboux caught a lucky gust and boosted into a forward loop, securing her win. Jaggi and Alba Orozco sailed a particularly close heat, with both sailors landing clean forward loops and working the waves for all they were worth. When the judges totted up the score sheets Alba Orozco won the vote over Jaggi with her superior wave scores.

Eva Oude Ophius (Naish / Naish) and Iballa Ruano Moreno (Starboard / Severne) dominated the second heat single, against their opponents Fanny Aubet (JP / NeilPryde) and Andrea Geierspichler. The women launched into action when the green flag went up, Iballa went for an enormous forward loop in front of the judges whilst Oude Ophius landed a backloop. The sailors managed to hunt down the few waves in the heat and milk them for all they were worth, whilst Aubet and Geierspichler looked to be under powered.

Newlywed Nayra Alonso (Fanatic / Severne) came into her own in the third heat, taking down Evi Tsape (F2 / North) with her stylish riding utilizing her local knowledge to pick the largest waves. Alice Arutkin (Starboard / North) chose a volume approach in her heat against Amanda Beenen (Dakine). Arutkin charged from wave to wave with forward loops in between, guaranteeing her victory.

The quarter finals saw the demise of Treboux to the consistent Alba Orozco. Alba performed perfect forward loops and maximised her time on the waves throughout the heat and advanced into the semi -finals. The other pairing in the heat had another close battle but Iballa was displaying an incredible set of maneuvers and took down Oude Ophius.

Next up, heat 22 saw Alonso go about her exceptional wave riding to slay Arutkin while Daida Ruano Moreno (Starboard / Severne) made her opening appearance on the 2011 tour. Daida burst into action with a stalled forward and continued with her rampage of mind blowing moves throughout the heat securing her pass into the next round.

As much as Alonso and Alba Orozco tried to hold their ground, the Moreno twins ruled the semi-finals moving quickly from wave to wave and flying through their radical manoeuvres. The pair took control on their home water and quickly guaranteed their position in the winner’s final.

Women’s Final

The Moreno twins have dominated the women’s fleet for the last decade, and their exceptional sailing made sure that 2011 was no different. Daida opened the heat with a colossal stalled forward however she was unable to hold the landing; Iballa quickly took advantage and landed her own. The sisters went from move to move in an attempt to outdo each other; however Daida looked to be the stronger of the two, working each wave all the way to the beach and making sure each tweaked move had maximal extension. Iballa took the moves up a notch and attempted the wave 360 to beat her sister; unfortunately she was unable to make it leaving the door open for Daida to claim the victory.

Double elimination

Spread over two days and with winds reaching fifty knots, mixed with pounding waves the crowds on the beach knew they were in for an action packed double elimination. With the opportunity to improve their overall scores, the competitors were ready and waiting for the judges to drop the green flag and take to the water on their 3.3 meter sails.

The only sailor to break into the top sixteen’s fortress from round two was Jaeger Stone (Severne). The young Australian defeated John Skye (RRD / RRD / MFC), Kenneth Danielsen (F2 / Simmer / MFC / Mystic) and Klaas Voget (Fanatic / Simmer / MFC) with his enormous stalled forwards and aggressive cut backs earning him a place in round four.

Having held strong against their challengers in round three, it was time for Daniel Bruch (Starboard / Severne / AL 360), Marcos Perez (Exocet / Gun), Eleazar Alonso (Naish / Naish) and Stone to play the underdogs.

The sailors moved on to face Swift, Seadi,Alex Mussolini (Tabou / Gaastra) and Dario Ojeda (Tabou /Simmer / Dakine / MFC) respectively in the fourth round. Swift and Bruch had a particularly close heat however Swift managed to squeeze passed with a perfect double forward. Seadi destroyed Perez with his seamless riding, Mussolini defeated Alonso with an enormous backloop and a clean wave 360, while Ojeda finished Jaeger Stones winning streak nailing a tweaked pushloop and a sensational double forward.

Dario Ojeda (Tabou / Simmer / Dakine / MFC) earned himself the sailor of the day award, as he took the day by storm and sailed through four heats passed British sailor Swift and Seadi, Browne and Campello consecutively, raising his result from joint fifth to third. Ojeda high risk wave riding saw him land wave 360’s in the critical section and huge double forward loops to secure his victories.

The largest wave score of the competition made an appearance in heat 50; Fernandez Lopez versus Ojeda. Fernandez Lopez caught the set and took that as his opportunity to put an end to Ojeda’s rampage, landing an enormous backside 360 on the steepest section of the wave and then turning straight into a shaka and then a frontside turn. The judges awarded Fernandez Lopez with straight ten’s for his exceptional sailing.

Men’s final

A huge crowd lined the beach to watch the action unfold for the men’s final, and the sailors certainly didn’t disappoint. Koster opened the heat with an ankle dry double forward loop, which was quickly matched by Fernandez Lopez’s own. The sailors then went about upstaging each other with a series of radical maneuvers, Koster went for a wave 360 and Fernandez Lopez chose a goiter. Disaster struck for Fernandez Lopez when his equipment failed after a monster back loop however good friend Francisco Casas Garcia (Starboard / MFC) helped keep his hopes alive and sailed new equipment out to him without a harness. Koster took advantage and continued to land his astounding tricks. The big crescendo came when Koster threw himself into a triple loop sending his equipment flying, however the work was done and Koster had earned enough points to secure himself the victory.

Women’s Fleet

Jaggi and Tsape were the standout sailors of the double elimination. Both women ploughed through three heats, defeating their opponent’s with their controlled jumps and wave rides in the howling winds.

Jaggi and Tsape went on to face each other, Jaggi started the heat like she meant business and launched into an enormous forward loop. Tsape caught a number of clean waves but Jaggi was on form, landing her moves with precision.

Having sailed from the opening heat of the double elimination, the fight for second place was particularly tough for Jaggi as she faced Iballa Ruano Moreno (Starboard / Severne) for the prestigious place in the final. Iballa didn’t mess around and launched into a huge stalled forward within the first thirty seconds of the heat, leaving Jaggi to play catch up for the remainder of the time. Iballa turned her focus to waves and flew into a backside aerial followed by several frontside cutbacks. Jaggi tried to match Iballa’s points but despite her best efforts the damage had already been done.

Women’s final

As witnessed many times at Pozo during the last decade, the incredible Moreno twins faced each other once again in the grand final; a tribute to their amazing skills here on their home waters. Iballa and Daida displayed an overwhelming level of control over their equipment in the ballistic winds, as they both landed stalled forwards and backloops to kick the heat off. Having been matched move to move Daida turned her sailing up yet another notch and initiated a double forward loop which she landed in waterstart position. She then caught a logo high wave and boosted into a front side aerial wowing the crowds and the judges with her mind-blowing sailing. Iballa attempted to fight back but Daida’s adrenaline was flowing as she rotated around a seamless one handed backloop and then a taka, displaying her dominance on Pozo’s waters for the twelfth year.

The overall standings for the PWA wave world tour are currently exactly the same as the event results from Gran Canaria due to this being the first event of 2011. This will all change however when the wave tour moves to Tenerife for round two.

Where Next?

The world’s finest wave sailors will now make the short journey over to the stunning island of Tenerife for their second stop on the 2011 PWA world tour. Tenerife promises slick wave riding mammoth aerials and insane stunts, the action will take place 14th-20th July.

Scope the actionFor more information on all the entrants, and to keep up to date with every piece of the action, click on www.pwaworldtour.com